Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Earmarks? No No... Phonemarks!”

Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Earmarks? No No... Phonemarks!”:

"The Democrats have not only jettisoned any idea of 'cleaning up' Washington and running the most ethical Congress in history... they have become positively ingenious in finding new ways to hide their culture of corruption from public view..."

Disgusting. The republicans were corrupt. Now we see the d-rats are also corrupt. Color me unsurprised. Read the whole thing.

FDA Approves Period Suppression Pill: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

FDA Approves Period Suppression Pill: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:

"The first birth-control pill meant to put a stop to women's monthly periods indefinitely won federal approval Tuesday. Called Lybrel, it's the first such pill to receive Food and Drug Administration approval for continuous use. When taken daily, the pill can halt women's menstrual periods indefinitely and prevent pregnancies.

Lybrel is the latest approved oral contraceptive to depart from the 21-days-on, seven-days-off regimen that had been standard since birth-control pill sales began in the 1960s. The pill, manufactured by Wyeth, is the first designed to put off periods altogether when taken without break."

I'm not sure what to make of this, but i've heard of women doing this already by just continuously taking their current pills without taking the placebo for the 7 days at the end of the month.

Environmental hysteria, DDT, and dying kids ...

Rich Karlgaard (Via Instapundit):

"The Washington Post concedes that 'numerous' deaths might have been prevented by DDT.

Let's stop here. Any curious reader would ask, Just how 'numerous' is numerous? Wouldn't you ask that question? The Post never asks that question. Why?

Because the answer devastates Rachel Carson and her followers. According to these CDC figures, malaria kills more than 800,000 children under age five every year.

Every year, 800,000 small children die from malaria, a disease once nearly eradicated. Ponder that."

Yeah, the green activists screwed the pooch on this one. It turns out that DDT is an extemely safe insecticide -- its only harmful to a few species of bird and is extremely safe for humans (safe enough to spray on the inside of our homes). So the downside to the mass use of DDT is some birds dying. The upside was the almost eradication of malaria. So what did the greenies make us do ... that's right we banned the stuff, and much of the rest of the world blindly followed suit. Disgusting.

I feel like the same thing is happening again with global warming -- the same forces are at work: mass fear based on shoddy science being pushed on the public by powerful special interest groups aided and abetted by a compliant media and the liberal elites. I foresee the day in 30 years, after we've slowed global economic growth by 1 or 2 percent per year (thus making the whole world substantially poorer, over time) when we ask what the cost was -- in terms of human life*--- of fighting the phantom menace of global warming.

*Because slower economic growth burdens most heavily the very poor, some poor kids won't get adequate medical care or adequate education or even enough food. These are children who would have been able to receive such things had they only been slightly better off: if only their parents could have got a job in that factory that was never built because GDP growth was slightly lower for the past few decades.

Bruce Willis Tells Hollywood To Shut Up

(Flopping Aces):

"BRUCE WILLIS is fed up with listening to outspoken actors - and believes their opinion shouldn't mean 'jack s**t' to the general public. The Die Hard star understands some of his colleagues want to do good for various causes, but wishes others would keep their thoughts to themselves. He says, 'I don't think my opinion means jack s**t, because I'm an actor. 'Why do actors think their opinions mean more because you act? You just caught a break as an actor. There are hundreds - thousands - of actors who are just as good as I am, and probably better. 'Have you heard anything useful come out of an actor's mouth lately?'"

Classic. My esteem of Willis just shot through the roof.

U.S. Divorce Rate Lowest Since 1970

U.S. Divorce Rate Lowest Since 1970:

"Despite the common notion that America remains plagued by a divorce epidemic, the national per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since its peak in 1981 and is now at its lowest level since 1970."

I find it amusing that so often people take delight in believing that things are bad and steadily getting worse ... when in fact the opposite is often occurring. Divorce - at almost a 50 year low, crime has been decreasing for almost 2 decades, pollution is at a 30 or 40 year low. Things are good! Technoutopia is here.
Via Instapundit.